Emotionally Perfect
I’m not a planner by nature - I’m more of a free-spirit. Except for when it comes to being on-time. I’m a stickler for being on-time! When someone asks me what my goals for this website are, for example, I don’t really have an answer. I can’t be bogged down by the details. BUT, details become extremely important to me when they have an impact on the big picture I see in my head. In my home, for example, I know when a bowl is out of place or a chair is askew and like a true obsessive compulsive, I have to fix it. Immediately. Similarly, in photography, those little details drive me bonkers. I strive to get the best possible image in camera that I can, and photoshop can often take care of the pesky little details that I miss along the way, but sometimes, there just isn’t anything that can fix it. And it can still be perfect anyway.
There’s a difference between technically perfect and emotionally perfect. As much as I would love for all my photos to be technically perfect, that’s not what drives me. What drives me is capturing an emotionally perfect photo - documenting a truly authentic moment. A story, a memory, a connection. Even if the rules of photography are broken in the process. Truly - I’m a rebel.
Bo is my most reliable subject. He’s in more of my images than any other member of the family these days. I can count on him to get in the frame with minimal complaint and all I have to give up are some small trainer treats. I’ve had requests anywhere from Starbucks to Aviator Nation to snap a single image of my girls, but give Bo some chicken jerky and he’ll literally tap dance around me while I snap away.
On this particular day, I spotted some pretty soft light through my front door and decided to grab some treats. I took a number of images but his face in this particular image tugged on me more than any of the others. I don’t mind that his head is chopped off slightly or that only one of his eyes is well-exposed . This photo so perfectly encapsulate his BIG personality. His bulging eyes, his little tongue, his flopping ears…and it’s obvious that he’s extremely motivated by whatever is between my fingers. When I think of Bo, this is the way I think of him. This, is an emotionally perfect photo to me.
In the absence of kiddos that are too old and too cool to pose for me, I’ll take him. He’s pretty cute. Here’s a few more - some technically perfect, others not - but I love them all just the same.
